economic performance of the airline industry
TRANSCRIPT
www.iata.org/economics 2015 mid-year report 1
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY
This new semi-annual report replaces the quarterly Airlines Financial Forecast, and takes a broader look at how the
industry is adding value for its consumers, the wider economy and governments, as well as for its investors.
Key points
Consumers benefit from lower oil prices with lower fares, more routes, and spend 1% of world GDP on air transport.
Economic development big winner from the doubling of city pairs and halving of air transport costs in past 20 years.
Governments gain substantially from $116bn of taxation this year and from more than 58 million ‘supply chain’ jobs.
Equity owners see a far better 2015 with a 7.5% average airline ROIC, above the cost of capital for the first time.
Fuel use per ATK to fall a further 1.5% y-o-y, saving 11 million tonnes of CO2 emissions and $3 billion of fuel costs.
Load factors forecast to stabilize as capacity rises; new aircraft deliveries represent a $180 billion investment.
Jobs in the industry should reach 2.5 million, productivity will be up 3.2% and GVA/employee almost $97,000.
Infrastructure use costs are rising, plus inefficiencies in Europe alone add €2.9bn to airline costs this year.
N American region performs best with a 7.5% net post-tax profit margin in 2015. Africa weakest at just 0.8%.
Consumers
Consumers will see a substantial increase in the value they
derive from air transport this year. New destinations are
up 1.7% this year already, and frequencies have risen by
even more. We expect 1% of world GDP to be spent on
air transport in 2015, totaling over $760 billion. Air travel
is accelerating, with growth of 6.7% expected this year,
the best since 2010, well above the 5.5% trend of the past
20 years. This is being driven mainly by the upturn of the
economic cycle. But price is also attracting consumers.
The average return fare (before surcharges and tax) of
$429 in 2015 is forecast to be more than 64% lower than
20 years earlier, after adjusting for inflation. Air freight
had been in the doldrums since 2010 but now a cyclical
upturn is evident.
Worldwide airline industry 2013 2014 2015 Spend on air transport*, $billion 752 769 763 % change over year 1.8% 2.2% -0.7% % global GDP 0.9% 0.9% 1.0%
Return fare, $/pax. (2015$) 493 473 429 Compared to 1994 -59% -61% -64%
Freight rate, $/kg (2015$) 2.33 2.22 2.02 Compared to 1994 -60% -62% -66%
Passenger departures, million 3,143 3,327 3,542 % change over year 5.1% 5.8% 6.5%
RPKs, billion 5839 6190 6603 % change over year 5.7% 6.0% 6.7%
Freight tonnes, million 49.3 51.5 54.2 % change over year 2.3% 4.5% 5.3%
World GDP growth, % 2.5% 2.6% 2.9%
World trade growth, % 2.7% 3.0% 3.7% Note: RPK = Revenue Passenger Km, FTK = Freight Tonne Km, y-o-y = year on
year change. GVA = Gross Valued Added (firm level GDP). * Airline revenue
+indirect taxes. Sources: IATA, ICAO, EIU, Neth CPB, PaxIS, CargoIS.
Airline CFOs and heads of cargo reported in April that they
expect growth in passenger services over the next 12
months to be as strong as in 2010 and early 2011. Cargo
is also expected to see its strongest growth since 2010.
The upturn in economic activity driving these expectations
is fragile, as weakness in Europe and Asia has shown.
However, an easing in fiscal austerity policies, continued
expansionary monetary policy and progress in
deleveraging the private sector, are all coming together to
boost growth, particularly in economies like the US.
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Cargo services growth expected in the next 12 months
www.iata.org/economics 2015 mid-year report 2
Wider economy
Economic development worldwide is getting a significant
boost from air transport. This wider economic benefit is
being generated by increasing connections between cities
– enabling the flow of goods, people, capital, technology
and ideas - and reducing air transport costs. The number
of unique city-pair connections is estimated at more than
16,000, almost double the connectivity by air twenty
years ago. The price of air transport to users continues to
fall, after adjusting for inflation. Compared to twenty
years ago real transport costs have more than halved.
Lower transport costs and improving connectivity have
boosted trade flows; trade itself has resulted from
globalizing supply chains and associated FDI.
Worldwide airline industry 2013 2014 2015 Unique city pairs 15774 16485 Compared to 1994 190% 199%
Transport cost, US$/RTK (2014$) 103.9 97.4 89.1 Compared to 1994 -54% -56% -60%
Value of trade carried, $billion 6,413 6,468 5,949 % change over year 2.4% 0.9% -8.0%
Value of tourism spend, $billion 623 660 651 % change over year 11.4% 5.9% -1.3%
Supply chain jobs, million 58.1* % change over year 2.3%
Supply chain GVA, $ billion 2434* % change over year 3.6% Note: RTK = Revenue Tonne Kilometers, GVA = Gross Value Added. The total
number of ‘routes’ or airport pairs is much higher because of multiple airports
in some cities and connections are counted both ways.
Source: IATA, ATAG, OAG, UNWTO, IHS Global Insight. * 2012 data, ATAG
Air transport is vital for manufactures trade today, which
is more in components rather than finished goods. We
forecast that the value of international trade shipped by
air this year will be $5.9 trillion (down from 2014 only
because of the stronger $). People travelling by air this
year, tourists, will spend a forecast $651 billion.
Another impact on the wider economy comes through the
influence increased airline activity has on jobs in the
sector, in its supply chain, and the jobs generated as
spending ripples through other sectors of the economy.
These ‘supply chain’ jobs around the world are estimated
to have been 58.1 million in 2012.
Government
Governments have also gained substantially from the
good performance of the airline industry. Airlines and
their customers are forecast to generate $116 billion in
tax revenues this year. That’s the equivalent of almost
48% of the industry’s GVA (Gross Value Added, which is
the firm-level equivalent to GDP), paid to governments in
payroll, social security, corporate and product taxes (Note
that charges for services are excluded). In addition the
industry continues to create high value added jobs.
Worldwide airline industry
2013 2014 2015
Tax revenues, $billion 107 111 116 % change over year 3.9% 3.5% 3.9%
% GVA 48.8% 48.7% 47.8%
# of consumer protection regimes 55 59 Note: GVA = Gross Value Added (firm level GDP)
Source: IATA, Oxford Economics.
But in many countries the value of aviation for
governments, and the wider economy, is not well
understood. The commercial activities of the industry
remain highly constrained by bilateral and other
regulations. Moreover, regulation is far from ‘smart’ with
unnecessarily high costs in many situations. Passenger
rights/consumer protection laws are one example of well-
intentioned but badly designed regulation that can lead to
disproportionate, inconsistent and badly targeted costs.
There are now 59 regimes currently in force, based on
information currently available.
Sources for charts on this page: ATAG, Oxford Economics, IATA, ICAO, OAG.
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www.iata.org/economics 2015 mid-year report 3
Capital providers
Debt providers to the airline industry are well rewarded
for their capital, usually invested with the security of a
very mobile aircraft asset to back it. On average during
the business cycle the airline industry has been able to
generate enough revenue to pay its suppliers bills and
service its debt. But typically net post-tax profit margins
have been small, leaving little to pay equity investors.
Equity owners have not been rewarded adequately for
risking their capital in most years, except at a handful of
airlines. Investors should expect to earn at least the
normal return generated by assets of a similar risk profile,
the weighted average cost of capital (WACC). Such is the
intensity of competition, and the challenges to doing
business, that average returns are rarely as high as the
industry’s cost of capital. Equity investors have typically
seen their capital shrink. But this year we expect the
industry to generate a return on invested capital (ROIC) of
7.5%, which does, for the first time, adequately reward
equity owners. On invested capital of almost $700 billion,
the industry is forecast to generate $4.9 billion of value
for investors this year. But it should be clear that $29.3
billion net profit, while exceptional for the airline industry,
is really only just sufficient to pay investors a ‘normal’
return for risking their capital. Moreover, high returns are
not widely spread in the industry outside N America.
The trend improvement in returns is being driven by
changes in structure and behavior. Breakeven load
factors are usually on a painful upward trend as yields fall
faster than cost reductions. They are falling this year
because of lower fuel prices and the impact of increasing
ancillary revenues. On top of that, consolidation and
more rational behavior have boosted load factors
achieved.
Worldwide airline industry 2013 2014 2015 ROIC, % invested capital 4.9% 5.7% 7.5%
ROIC-WACC, % invested capital -1.9% -1.2% 0.7%
Investor value, $ billion -13.0 -8.3 4.9
EBIT margin, % revenue 3.5% 4.6% 6.9%
Net post-tax profits, $billion 10.6 16.4 29.3 % revenues 1.5% 2.2% 4.0% $ per passenger 3.37 4.94 8.27 Note: ROIC = Return on Invested Capital, WACC = Weighted Average Cost of
Capital, EBIT = Earnings Before Interest and Tax. Current year or forward-
looking industry financial assessments should not be taken as reflecting the
performance of individual airlines, which can differ significantly.
Source: IATA, McKinsey, ICAO.
Aircraft
This year commercial airlines will take delivery of more
than 1,700 new aircraft, representing an investment by
the industry of around $180 billion. The trend
improvement in average returns (ROIC) has given the
industry the confidence to invest on this scale. Sustained
high fuel costs had also made it economic to retire older
aircraft at a higher rate, but that effect will clearly weaken
this year. Over half of this year’s deliveries will replace
existing fleet, making a significant contribution to
increasing fleet fuel efficiency, as described below. Source: IATA, ICAO, McKinsey, Ascend
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www.iata.org/economics 2015 mid-year report 4
The fleet is forecast to increase by over 900 aircraft to end
next year at almost 27,000 aircraft; lower fuel prices will
lead to fewer older aircraft leaving the fleet. The average
size of aircraft in the fleet is continuing to rise slowly. So
by the end of next year there will be some 3.7 million
available seats. These seats are also being used more
intensively, which is critical for profitability in a capital
intensive industry – and it also reduces environmental
impact. Passenger load factors are expected to rise above
80% on average this year. Aircraft are also being flown
more intensively. The number of scheduled departures is
forecast to exceed more than 35 million next year. That’s
an average of 67 aircraft departing each minute of 2015.
Worldwide airline industry 2013 2014 2015 Aircraft fleet 25,150 25,926 26,828 % change over year 2.7% 3.1% 3.5%
Available seats, million 3.4 3.5 3.7 % change over year 5.2% 5.0% 5.3%
Average aircraft size, seats 134 136 139 % change over year 2.4% 1.8% 1.8%
Aircraft departures, million 32.0 33.6 35.4 % change over year 2.7% 4.8% 5.4%
ASKs, % change over year 5.2% 5.8% 6.2%
Passenger load factor, % ASK 79.7% 79.8% 80.2%
Freight load factor, % AFTK 47.0% 47.4% 47.4%
Weight load factor, % ATK 66.9% 67.2% 67.3%
Breakeven load factor, % ATK 64.5% 64.1% 62.7% Note: ASK = Available Seat Kilometer, AFTK = Available Freight Tonne Kilometer,
ATK = Available Tonne Kilometer.
Source: Ascend, ICAO, IATA.
Fuel
This year we forecast the airlines fuel bill will fall to $191
billion, which will represent 28% of their total operating
costs. Jet fuel prices have fallen substantially and we base
our forecast on an average price of $78/b this year, and
$65/b for the Brent crude oil price. The ‘crack’ spread
over Brent crude oil prices has risen above its recent
average of 15%. However, profit from jet fuel is made not
in the refining part of the value chain but upstream by the
oil producers. We forecast that purchases of jet fuel by
the airline industry next year will generate $16 billion of
profit for the upstream part of the jet fuel supply chain.
Source: IATA, ICAO, Platts
Fuel is such a large cost that it focuses intense effort in
the industry to improve fuel efficiency, through replacing
fleet with new aircraft, better operations and efforts to
try to persuade governments to remove the airspace and
airport inefficiencies that waste around 5% of fuel burn
each year.
Worldwide airline industry 2013 2014 2015 Fuel spend, $billion 228 226 191 % change over year 0.5% -1.1% -15.6%
% operating costs 33.0% 32.3% 28.1%
Fuel use, billion litres 265 276 288 % change over year 1.7% 4.2% 4.6%
Fuel efficiency, litre fuel/100atk 24.4 24.1 23.8 % change over year -1.9% -1.1% -1.5%
CO2, million tonnes 694 724 757 % change over year 1.7% 4.2% 4.6%
Fuel price, $/barrel 124.5 116.6 78.0 % change over year -3.9% -6.3% -33.1%
% spread over oil price 14.4% 15.0% 20.0%
Upstream oil profits, $billion 26 26 16 Note: ATK = Available Tonne Kilometer.
Source: IATA, IEA, McKinsey
We forecast that fuel efficiency, in terms of capacity use
i.e. per ATK, will improve by 1.5% in 2015. Higher load
factors are forecast to improve fuel use per RTK by 1.7%
this year.
Continued fuel efficiency gains have partially decoupled
CO2 emissions from expanding air transport services. In
the absence of the expected fuel efficiency gain this year,
fuel burn and CO2 emissions would be 1.5% higher in
2015. That represents a saving of over 11 million tonnes
of CO2, as well as saving on fuel that would have cost the
industry and its consumers an additional $3 billion.
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www.iata.org/economics 2015 mid-year report 5
Labour
Airlines are expecting to accelerate the pace of hiring over
the next year. Growth in employment was strong in 2014,
and IATA’s survey of airline CFOs in April showed a rising
net balance of those saying they would increase hiring
over the next 12 months.
We estimate that total employment by airlines will reach
2.5 million this year, a gain of over 3% compared to 2014.
Productivity is expected to be strong, as capacity growth
accelerates in 2015, with the average employee
generating almost 490,000 ATKs, which is a 3.2%
improvement over last year. That strong trend
improvement in productivity is helping airlines to keep
unit labour costs under control. This year we forecast unit
labour costs will be reduced by a further 0.5%.
Worldwide airline industry 2013 2014 2015 Labour costs, $ billion 135 142 150 % change over year 4.2% 5.1% 5.7%
Employment, million 2.35 2.42 2.50 % change over year 2.1% 3.2% 3.1%
Productivity, atk/employee 461,517 471,389 485,371 % change over year 2.1% 2.7% 3.2%
Unit labour cost, $/ATK 0.125 0.125 0.124 % change over year 0.5% -0.2% -0.5%
GVA/employee, $ 93,730 94,227 96,753 % change over year 1.6% 0.5% 2.7% Note: ATK = Available Tonne Kilometer, GVA = Gross Value Added (firm level
GDP).
Source: IATA, ICAO, ATAG, Oxford Economics.
The jobs being created are not just productive for their
airline employers; they are also highly productive for the
economies in which they are employed. We estimate that
the direct GVA for national economies, generated by the
average airline employee, will rise 2.7% this year to
almost $97,000 a year, which is well above the economy-
wide average. Additional jobs in the airline sector will
raise average levels of productivity in an economy.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure partners play an important role in the
service airlines provide to their customers, affecting the
experience, the timeliness of the journey, and its cost.
Source: ACI (aeronautical revenues), ICAO (en-route charges, ATK), IATA.
Worldwide airline industry 2013 2014 2015 European airspace inefficiency
Airline costs, € million 2,730 2,720 2,899
Passenger time loss, € million 4,531 4,608 4,677 Source: IATA, Eurocontrol PRC’s European ANS Performance Review. Note a
change of methodology has altered estimates for 2013 ad 2014.
The direct cost paid for using infrastructure has
increasingly been transferred to the passenger. Overall
the cost of using airport and ANSP infrastructure has risen
steeply over the past decade, partly because competitive
pressures are very weak in this part of the supply chain.
This contrasts with the relatively limited rise in other non-
fuel airline costs. Moreover, inefficiencies causing delay
and inefficient routings add to the direct cost. We
forecast that the delays caused by inefficient airspace
management in Europe alone will cost the industry $2.9
billion this year, as well as generating unnecessary CO2
emissions. The time passengers waste in these delays is a
consumer cost worth an estimated $4.7 billion.
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www.iata.org/economics 2015 mid-year report 6
Regions
The strongest financial performance is being delivered by
airlines in North America. Net post-tax profits are the
highest at $15.7 billion this year. That represents a net
profit of $18.12 per passenger, which is a marked
improvement from just 3 years earlier. Net margins
forecast at 7.5% exceed the peak of the late 1990s. This
improvement has been driven by consolidation, helping to
raise load factors (passenger + cargo) over 64%, and
ancillaries, which together with lower fuel costs push
breakeven load factors down to 56.4% this year.
Breakeven load factors are highest in Europe, caused by a
combination of low yields due to the highly competitive
open aviation area, and high regulatory costs. But the
region has achieved the second highest load factors and is
generating solid growth. Net profits are forecast to rise to
$5.8 billion this year represent $6.30 per passenger and a
margin of 2.8%.
Airlines in Asia-Pacific have very diverse performances.
On average profit per passenger is $4.24 as lower fuel
costs and stronger cargo markets, particularly important
in this manufacturing region, help to boost net margins
moderately to 2.5% and net profits to $5.1 billion.
Middle Eastern airlines have one of the lower breakeven
load factors. Average yields are low but unit costs are
even lower, partly driven by the strength of capacity
growth; 12.6% this year. Post-tax profits are expected to
grow to $1.8 billion next year, representing a profit of
$9.61 per passenger and a net margin of 3.1%.
Latin American airlines have faced a mixed environment,
with weak home markets hampering performance,
despite a degree of consolidation and some long-haul
success. Net profits of only $0.6 billion are forecast this
year, which is $2.27 per passenger and a margin of 1.8%.
Africa is the weakest region, as in the past 2 years. Profits
are barely positive, and represent just $1.59 per
passenger. Breakeven load factors are relatively low, as
yields are a little higher than average and costs are lower.
However, few airlines in the region are able to achieve
adequate load factors, which average the lowest globally
at 56% in 2015. Performance is improving, but slowly.
5th June 2015
Worldwide airline industry 2013 2014 2015 Africa Net post-tax profit, $billion -0.1 0.0 0.1 Per passenger, $ -1.64 -0.03 1.59 % revenue -0.8% 0.0% 0.8% RPK growth, % 4.6% 0.3% 3.2% ASK growth, % 4.0% 2.5% 3.3% Load factor, % ATK 56.1% 56.1% 56.0% Breakeven load factor, % ATK 56.3% 56.0% 55.4%
Asia-Pacific Net post-tax profit, $billion 1.9 1.2 5.1 Per passenger, $ 1.81 1.08 4.24 % revenue 0.9% 0.6% 2.5% RPK growth, % 7.2% 6.9% 8.1% ASK growth, % 7.1% 7.4% 7.7% Load factor, % ATK 66.9% 66.9% 67.0% Breakeven load factor, % ATK 65.0% 65.2% 62.8%
Middle East Net post-tax profit, $billion 0.3 0.7 1.8 Per passenger, $ 1.91 3.93 9.61 % revenue 0.6% 1.2% 3.1% RPK growth, % 11.6% 12.6% 12.9% ASK growth, % 12.3% 11.5% 12.9% Load factor, % ATK 60.1% 60.1% 60.2% Breakeven load factor, % ATK 59.5% 59.1% 58.0%
Latin America Net post-tax profit, $billion 0.2 0.0 0.6 Per passenger, $ 0.83 0.06 2.27 % revenue 0.6% 0.0% 1.8% RPK growth, % 6.3% 6.9% 5.1% ASK growth, % 4.5% 4.6% 5.0% Load factor, % ATK 61.2% 61.2% 61.2% Breakeven load factor, % ATK 59.9% 60.1% 58.8%
North America Net post-tax profit, $billion 7.4 11.2 15.7 Per passenger, $ 8.97 13.30 18.12 % revenue 3.5% 5.2% 7.5% RPK growth, % 2.3% 2.7% 3.0% ASK growth, % 2.0% 2.5% 3.1% Load factor, % ATK 64.3% 64.3% 64.2% Breakeven load factor, % ATK 59.9% 58.1% 56.4%
Europe Net post-tax profit, $billion 1.0 3.3 5.8 Per passenger, $ 1.21 3.82 6.30 % revenue 0.5% 1.6% 2.8% RPK growth, % 3.9% 5.8% 6.8% ASK growth, % 2.7% 5.2% 6.5% Load factor, % ATK 66.7% 66.7% 66.6% Breakeven load factor, % ATK 65.4% 64.7% 63.3% Note: RPK = Revenue Passenger Kilometer, ASK = Available Seat Kilometers,
ATK = Available Tonne Kilometers. Current year or forward-looking industry
financial assessments should not be taken as reflecting the performance of
individual airlines, which can differ significantly. Source: ICAO, IATA.
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